BJPark t1_jeahiz6 wrote on March 30, 2023 at 4:29 PM

Reply to comment by natepriv22 in My case against the “Pause Giant AI Experiments” open letter by Beepboopbop8

That's all very well. But do you suggest that we give people things for free, or do you expect people to pay for these demands using money?

natepriv22 t1_jeatf4l wrote on March 30, 2023 at 5:45 PM

Money is mainly used as a medium of exchange.

It's unlikely that things will be "free" as in no sort of exchange of value, because for a transaction or exchange to take place between two or more parties, they need to each believe that there is a personal or community benefit from this exchange.

For this reason, some form of money will still exist, so that exchanges can properly be performed between parties.

BJPark t1_jeavcrr wrote on March 30, 2023 at 5:57 PM

Right. Which leads to the question: How will people earn money?

natepriv22 t1_jeayzdd wrote on March 30, 2023 at 6:20 PM

I guess it should be easier to come up with new ways of making money in an AI world rather than coming up with a completely different economic system or shifting the reality of economic rules to fit a subjective imaginary world view and unrealistic ideal of what and how socialism or communism should work.

In the same way it was almost impossible for someone working in agriculture hundreds if not thousands of years ago to imagine today's software jobs, it's probably as difficult for us to figure out what jobs in 5,10,20,30,etc years from now will look like.

BJPark t1_jeb0hbh wrote on March 30, 2023 at 6:30 PM

That's a fair point. And of course, it's entirely reasonable to look back at history when we had similar panics about technology replacing human jobs and come to the conclusion that it's all hot air.

But I think we must be cautious in saying that just because we had the boy who cried wolf last time, that there can never be a wolf in the future.

This time might indeed be different, if AI can literally replicate humans. And if we say "Humans will just find new jobs", then the question that immediately comes to mind is "Why can't AI do those jobs as well?"

Personally, I think the future is that AI will also become consumers. This way, corporations can create their own customers and destroy them at will. It's actually the perfect solution. We won't need finicky human beings to power the economy. AI can both consume as well as create goods, and we won't have to destroy capitalism to do it!

As to what will humans do, well... as long as I'm a shareholder in these corporations, I have nothing to worry about.